Wine - Page 2

**The Reaper** · 07-25-2004, 07:35

If the only wine in the world came from France, I could go the rest of my life without a drop to remove economic support from an arrogant, ungrateful, corrupt regime such as they have.

If their current stated positions are truly representative of their beliefs, let them learn to speak German next time (or Arabic), and us stay home and criticize them.

TR

Pandora · 07-25-2004, 07:45

I'd like to try some new selections tonight - BBQ for out-laws with some nice delmonico steaks, grilled veggies, etc.

Need a nice red merlot or shiraz and a dry white anything that isn't oak aged. Specific suggestions in the >= $20 range?

brewmonkey · 07-25-2004, 08:20

Quote:

Originally posted by Solid
Look, I hate those surrender monkeys as much as any of you guys, maybe more having lived in proximity to them for so long. However, I still drink their wine. The climate in France differs quite severely to the climates in the 'New World' wine countries such as Australia, California, and S. Africa. Those climates are relatively stable, producing wines with a similar (great) taste every time. However, in France the weather is hugely variable. As a result, wines from some years may taste horrible, but on other years- 82 sticks out for bordeauxs- the wine exceeds all others.
So no, we should not exclude French wines from the forum, as by limiting the subject matter, we also limit what we can learn about wine.

JMO,

Solid

PS: fuck the french.

PPS: not literally; with lawyers, guns and money.

I will completely disagree with you on this. While the French might make some good wine from time to time, any vintner that can produce a solid product year after year is where I am going. Leaving the frogs out of the discussion is not going to by any means limit the subject matter. There are still MANY great wineries that can be included in the discussion so that all take something away.

Leave it to the French to have something get fucked up and then blame it on any thing BUT themselves.

Solid · 07-25-2004, 08:44

I will modify my position to state that if we are academically discussing wines, ie: not making buying recommendations, French wines should be included for I truly believe that some of their wines are unsurpassable masterpieces. However, if we're giving buying recommendations, we can leave their wines out and, as TR rightly said, deprive their arrogant, leftist asses of as much economic support as possible.

Brewmonkey- I'm not going to try to lecture on wine, but I will give my opinion for what it's worth. Wine, as with any agricultural product, relies massively on exogenous factors such as weather. As such, weather can often overwhelm a vintner's skill to ruin his wine. Similarly, a poor vintner can produce an excellent wine through perfect weather conditions. This being true, it is possible to say that those vintners that cope in extremely variable climates, such as bordeaux, are more skilled than those that cope in stable climates. Although clearly a generalisation, and the groups are difficult to compare because it is rare to have a french vintner move to the New World or vice versa, this point suggests that by excluding French wines, we are excluding a particularly skilled group of vintners.

Secondly, I think it would help to differentiate between 'table wines' and 'fine wines'. A table wine should be consistently drinkable at a young age and for a lesser price than a fine wine. For this reason, french wines can make particularly poor table wines (as they can be so variable) and therefore would not need to be included in the discussion. However, when it comes to fine wine, the French vintners are masters and we would therefore be limiting our conversation quite dangerously by excluding them.

Again, just my opinion.

Solid

PS: nice new avatar

P36 · 07-25-2004, 20:47

Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc. I love the New Zealand SBs, they've got a zing to them.

Pandora · 07-25-2004, 20:52

Itailians tend to produce very nice white table wines. An affordable recommendation: Pasqua Soave

Bravo1-3 · 07-26-2004, 00:39

One of the nice things about living here is that I'm dead in the center of Washington and Oregon wine country. Even the freakin commies up here drink local, or maybe from California.

I've gone 3 decades without finding anywines that I particularly care for, but I was served some Maryhill Sirah a few months ago that was damn good. And again, that's local stuff.